News

Salem will dedicate memorial at site of witch trial hangings

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SALEM, Mass. — In an update to a previous story, the city of Salem has finished its memorial project dedicated to the people executed in its infamous witch trial hangings. It was July 19, 1692 that the first of three mass hangings took place; five people were killed including Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse, and Sarah Wildes. Mayor Kim Driscoll chose this date to honor the victims and to dedicate the new memorial, located at Proctor’s Ledge where the actual hangings took place. As we reported last year, the hanging site has been ignored, forgotten, or left to speculation.

News

Update on Supreme Court religious freedom cases

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UNITED STATES — In an update to a story we reported in May, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) did finally rule in the Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer case. The decision states that the Missouri Department of Natural Resources grant policy was in violation of the First Amendment. The state had rejected the church’s application for an improvement grant on the basis of it being a religious institution. However, SCOTUS stated that the church’s services and its improvements were a “public benefit.” Therefore, the state’s denial violated the free exercise clause.

Living

Honoring the spiritual journey of fatherhood

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TWH – Every year on the third Sunday in June, many people around the world set aside time to honor and celebrate the fathers and father figures in their lives. Father’s Day has become a day to recognize the unique and important contributions that men make to the rearing of the next generation. The history of the American secular holiday does not have the same radical roots as its counterpart, Mother’s Day. In 1908, a Washington state woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, who had been raised by a widower, wanted male parents to be honored in a similar way as mothers. Dodd’s own mother had died giving birth to a sixth child and, consequently, her father was forced to raise all six children himself.

comic books

Of gods and love: a discussion of DC’s new film Wonder Woman

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[SPOILER ALERT: The following review contains details that may spoil the film for readers who have not yet seen the movie. ]

DC Entertainment’s new film Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot, has been captivating audiences since its release June 2. Opening weekend, the film grossed $103.2M in the United States alone, and is on track for record numbers in its second weekend. Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman is the first female-centered superhero movie to be produced in twelve years; the last one being Elektra (2005) starring Jennifer Garner. Additionally, Wonder Woman is only the second comic book-based film to be directed by a woman; the first being Marvel Studios’ Punisher: War Zone directed by Lexi Alexender.

News

Heathen community continues the struggle to distance themselves from extremism 

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UNITED STATES — When two men were fatally stabbed and another injured on a Portland train in May, officials and journalists began to follow the predictable course of profiling the attacker in an effort to understand why he would resort to such actions. After a few short days, several sources began to speculate on his Heathen religious practice, more specifically on Odinism. This assumption rests squarely on Facebook posts made the attacker over the past year. On May 9, he wrote, “Hail Vinland!! Hail Victory!!”